1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mobile radiographic unit, and more particularly to a mobile, light-weight, panoramic radiographic unit on which X-rays of a patient may be taken while the patient is in a reclining position or in any non-upright and non-vertical position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
X-ray machines for medical use are commonplace. Perhaps the most familiar of these are those found in a dentist's office. When X-rays are taken with these devices, a patient is typically seated in a specially designed chair, which, although itself adjustable, is fixed to the floor. X-ray film is placed in a carrier, and the carrier and film are placed in the patient's mouth adjacent to the dental area to be radiologically imaged. An X-ray unit on a hinged, or possibly gooseneck-like support, is then placed into the proper position and energized by the dentist or an assistant, exposing the film in the mouth of the patient. This process is typically repeated several times, at least once for each dental region for which an image is required. Panaromic views of the mouth are either highly impractical or impossible with such X-ray devices. Moreover, the chair and X-ray unit are not portable; the patient must come to the dentist's office and be seated in a particular location to have X-rays taken this way.
Most other medical X-rays, such as those in physician's offices and hospitals are also taken with devices that are non-portable. Generally, a patient must either go under his own power to a place where the X-ray can be taken, or he must be carried there. Even if the patient is carried to the X-ray machine because he is otherwise non-ambulatory, he must usually be removed from a wheelchair, cot or gurney on which he was carried and placed on a special support in an upright/vertical position to have his X-ray taken.
It would thus be desirable from a medical standpoint to have a portable X-ray unit that did not require a patient to be removed from his surgical bed, gurney, table or stretcher. Moreover, it would be very desirable to have an X-ray machine that was capable of producing a panoramic X-ray view, for dental and other purposes.
Portable X-ray units are known to the art, as are mobile stands. One such mobile stand currently marketed comprises a number components that can be assembled and dissasembled readily. In this design, a number of telescoping tubes can be fit together, and the assembled tubes are vertically positioned in a base having four legs and casters to provide a vertical support column. One end of the arm is adapted to hold an X-ray unit, while the other end is adapted to clamp onto the vertical support column at a selected height. The arm holds the X-ray unit at an elevated position horizontally distant from the vertical support column. The X-ray unit may have substantial weight. Since it is held horizontally distant from the vertical support column, the base is designed to accommodate the horizontally-shifted center of gravity, and thus provide a stable support. However, no support is provided for a reclining patient. Also, no means is provided for taking a panoramic X-ray view from such a portable X-ray unit in conjunction with a mobile stand and no means is provided for taking a panoramic x-ray from any position other than the patient being in an upright/vertical position.